[ post driftfleet ]

[precedented]

[ It's been a few years since Leto left the Fleet. He had expected it to come and finding himself back on Arrakis hadn't been a shock. Ghanima, of course, was unhappy that he seemed to have vanish once more, but they had both learned to cope with the realities of their distance, the fate that hung above them. Still, he soothes her anger the best he can while Farad'n watches balefully.

Life goes on. Even on Dune.

And yet, it feels empty. Stalled. Leto knows this is the perception of time. How it has taken a hold of him and won't let go.

He fiddles with the ring as he heads out into the desert. No one asks. No one questions the God Emperor. So he walks the dunes, alone, under the careful gaze of the moon and its little muad'dib. ]

Comments

[complicatedliar]

[It's taken Loki a long time (thousands of years, now, if he's bothering to count) and quite a bit of twisting the threads of reality to find this place. And he's been busy, of course. He's always busy, laying plans, playing his games, engineering the end of empires. Watching the curious development of the humans, because he's been compelled by too much close association to be unable to dismiss them entirely any more. But the way he keeps himself busy is by having many daggers spinning in the air at once. And this one has finally come to land.

It's not a graceful landing, admittedly. This isn't quite how he intended for things to work out, but he might have said the wrong thing a time or two, or crossed the wrong person because he needed to get the right reaction to get the entire chain to twist his way. And it ends with him falling out of the sky like a comet, skipping along the surface of the dunes as if he's a stone going across a pond, and then finally coming to rest.

He lays in his crater of sand, remembering how to breathe, and considers this different moon and stars before wheezing:]

That was fun.

[precedented]

[ Leto forgets to breath before he approaches the crater, careful in his gait (walk without rhythm so you won't attract the worm). It is him and the surprise of it almost renders Leto speechless. ]

Loki.

[complicatedliar]

[Ah, and that is the face he has wanted to see. Loki smiles, for a split second a soft and warm thing, so uncharacteristic of him. But first things first. Because he sees it in Leto's eyes, that emotion.

The smile becomes a grin. Because he never forgets, oh no. And he remembers very clearly, a wager made long ago. He points one thin, pale finger at Leto.]

Say it.

[I've surprised you.]

[precedented]

[ Leto laughs, sharp and bright, hybrid in its existence because it is pulled out of him without his say-so. He laughs, his smile cracking his face. ]

You - You surprised me.

[complicatedliar]

[Oh that, that is a glorious sunrise of a smile. Loki grins and pushes himself to his feet.]

I've surprised you.

I suppose that means I've won.

[Some victories are worth several thousand years of work. And injecting chaos into someone else's universe.]

[precedented]

[ Leto bends down to kiss Loki, his fingers already moving to brush against his hair and face, humming with pleasure. ]

[complicatedliar]

[Oh yes, and he'll enjoy this for a moment, because it's a joyful thing. He cups Leto's cheek with one hand and kisses him quite thoroughly. Then he smiles against Leto's lips.]

Well? Let me hear it in the music of your voice.

[precedented]

[ He huffs, good-natured. ]

So quick with the compliments. Careful not to bite your own tongue with them.

[complicatedliar]

My tongue is too quick for such things, and well you know it. [He smirks.] I shall have my due from you, Leto. Sooner or later.

[precedented]

Oh?

[ He trails his fingers down Loki's face. ] What is the price of such a due, I wonder.

[complicatedliar]

Perhaps ten thousand years, perhaps a single coin.

[precedented]

Has it been so long?

[ Time is hard to gauge. He can only tell by the lines on Ghanima's face. ]

[complicatedliar]

Years run together after a while, yes? I know not how it has gone for you.

[precedented]

[ Leto frowns, trying to recollect the time he left the Fleet. ]

Ten years. Maybe more.

[complicatedliar]

Not so long as that, then. A blink of the eye, to beings like us.

[precedented]

Time feels . . . harder since I've returned. The monotony sets in quickly.

[complicatedliar]

Oh dear. Perhaps I ruined you, and I didn't even mean to. [He sounds very cheerful about it, because he's not in the least bit sorry. Disturbing Leto's calm before it calcifies entirely is a rather treasured goal.]

[precedented]

[ He hums ]

"Ruin" is a strong word.

[complicatedliar]

Offer a weak one you think would suit better.

[precedented]

I like affected.

No one can truly tell how much of an effect it can be. How strong, how weak. It's left to the purview to stumble and guess.

[complicatedliar]

How... tepid.

[He's amused.]

Yet one might tell, when one is in the midst of the storm, to see the shape of its destruction. [He slides his fingers through Leto's hair.] But I have never had it in me to be so measured.

[He kisses Leto then, and it's an act that's the furthest thing from tepid.]

[precedented]

Are you sure?

[ He's teasing. ] Blind people exist.

[ But Leto leans into the kiss whole-heartedly, curving his arms around Loki's neck. ]

[complicatedliar]

Chaos lives in the marrow.

[He smiles against Leto's lips, and slips his other hand around the man's waist to draw him in closer. ]

[precedented]

[ He smiles despite himself. ]

[complicatedliar]

[That smile is another victory, no less pleasing because it is small.]

Ah, you've missed me.